Analytical Note, August 2005
Some considerations on acceding to the GSTP Agreement and joining the Third Round of GSTP Negotiations
In the São Paulo Declaration of 16 June 2004, developing country Ministers gathered at UNCTAD XI have agreed to launch a Third Round of trade negotiations among participants to the General System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP).
The relevance of the GSTP Agreement as a unique South-South trade instrument cannot be overstated. Indeed, the GSTP Agreement2 is a fully WTO-compatible3, intergovernmental instrument exclusively made of developing and least developed countries4 members of the Group of 77 and China.
Discussions under the new Round of negotiations have been taking place under the auspices of a GSTP Negotiating Committee. Under that Committee, two subsidiary groups have been established and entrusted with the negotiations of the two pillars of the GSTP. The first is the Negotiating Group on Rule-Making, which is mainly responsible for discussions aimed at improving of rules of origin. The second is the Negotiating Group on Market Access, which hosts discussions regarding the exchange of market access concessions among participants.
This article was tagged: Commodities, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Most Favoured Nation (MFN), Trade for Development, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
